


Together

by Get_below_my_line_of_vision



Category: Les Misérables - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Anorexia, Depression, Eating Disorders, Gen, Vomiting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-02
Updated: 2020-05-10
Packaged: 2021-03-01 19:09:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 3,735
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23972077
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Get_below_my_line_of_vision/pseuds/Get_below_my_line_of_vision
Summary: Jean Valjean had died. The consequent grief affected Cosette the most as she fell into the dark depths of depression.Marius is learning how to react to this appropriately and allows Éponine to help her friend get better.
Relationships: Cosette Fauchelevent & Éponine Thénardier, Cosette Fauchelevent/Marius Pontmercy
Kudos: 4





	1. The funeral

Marius and Cosette both wore black under the scorching sun in Paris. The air was warm and their skin felt as if it was boiling. However the two stood still, looking down with their teary eyes on the gravestone of Jean Valjean.

The old man knew he was going to die soon as he was ill for months. As Marius and Cosette wept beside him, the white haired man whispered a request to Marius. That his gravestone should not bare his name. Instead, for it to be clouded by tall grass in a place that does not attract anyone.   
In his last dying breath he still believed he was not important.

Marius knelt down and brought out his chalk. He wrote a loving poem to his father.  
Reading this, Cosette began to cry behind him. As her husband, Marius embraced her and lent his shoulder for her to cry on.   
As much as wanted to cry with her, he instead held her tight, whispering that her father was proud of her. Jean Valjean was her last family member. And he was gone. Marius wiped his tears.

A couple of hours later the two rode inside a black car, heading home.  
So far Cosette had not said a word. Neither had Marius. From time to time he opened his mouth just to close it. Every time he saw Cosette, all words dissolved.  
When she began to cry once again he held her hand softly. She reciprocated by clasping her other hand on his. Yet she still looked away, through the windows, to the passing landscape.

The two lived in a mansion. They were very fortunate. However this also meant that the house felt empty and freezing frequently. When it was dark, the atmosphere drastically changed.

Jean Valjean, despite their rocky beginning of relationship, was Marius’ father. When he was young, his father had died, so Valjean acted as his second father.   
After his biological father died, Marius didn’t open up to anyone. It wasn’t seen as masculine. It took many months for him to have a day without thinking about his father.   
Misunderstanding how he overcame his grief as the best strategy for better mental health, he left Cosette alone. Like he had been.  
So, she lay in the large bed all alone, watching the ceiling as her eyes began to become sore from not closing. She couldn’t sleep. How could she? She felt like she was living in a nightmare.

Having enough of her eyes burning, she closed them shut, hoping that would deliver her to sleep. The spacious room was quiet. It felt as if she was the only living person in the world.

Then she snapped out from staring into darkness by faint noises. With the house being so large, there were echoes that could sometimes be heard from the other side of the mansion.  
She heard indistinctive sounds.  
Quickly, she put her nightgown on and roamed the house, following the source of the sound. As she got closer she realised it was crying.   
Cautiously, she opened the door to the living room. There, Marius was lying on the couch.  
“Marius?” Cosette gently called out.  
He didn’t answer. He must’ve been asleep.  
She floated to him, to see him crying while sleeping uncomfortably. She began humming a melody she didn’t know where she learnt and wiped his tears away. This woke him up. He stared at her and whispered that he was sorry to have woken her up.  
Cosette smiled, and lay beside him on the couch. He embraced her. And together they slept, guarding each other’s dreams.


	2. Cosette's fall

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mention of eating disorder

It had been two weeks since the funeral and Cosette had shown little signs of improvement. Marius learnt to be more responsive to her but it was proven to be difficult as little by little she showed less interest in him. In anyone or anything, in fact.  
Whenever Marius would ask her if she wanted to discuss the complexity of her emotions, she would open her mouth and close them. Hoping that meant she would want to talk to him, he sat with her, sometimes up to an hour, waiting patiently for her to talk back. But she hardly did.  
The painful truth was that whenever he stared into her eyes he could see there was desperation in them. Her eyes were big and focused and teary. She always had a message in her brain that got blocked in the transportation to her mouth.  
Marius wanted to give all the time in the world for her, but she didn’t want him to sacrifice anything from his normal life. She had repeatedly said so before falling into silence.  
Since the circumstances changed so drastically, he didn’t know what he should do.

He now had to bring food he cooked to their bedroom. It began because she rarely moved out of the bed. So he brought in food. Then, it became a regular occurence. Sometimes he had to feed her by making her sit up and put the spoon in her mouth. He would make sure she swallowed. It was as if she reverted back into being a child.  
He tried to joke about it to lighten the mood by saying her loss of appetite was due to his bad cooking. There was a faint smile on her face which made Marius feel as if his heart had been lightened.

At last Marius decided he was going to call a doctor. He texted his friends about Cosette’s condition to get an approval of his decision. At first he expected them to say she was just going through a rough patch and that he should leave her alone, but thankfully his friends were mostly sympathetic and encouraged him to contact a doctor. However Montparnasse was the only one to disagree with the majority. On the topic of therapists, he believed them to be pseudoscience and thus should not invest pointless money in them.  
As Montparnasse was older than Marius, he felt some kind of obligation to listen to him. The more a person lived, the more wisdom they gained. Marius stared nervously at his phone, scrolling in his contacts from top to bottom. He hesitated.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Montparnasse is the antagonist, sorry


	3. Angel's visit

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A lot of talking of eating disorder (anorexia) and vomiting

It has been five weeks since Marius had called for a therapist and it was deemed that Cosette was depressed.

Éponine rang the doorbell and greeted Marius with a warm hug. She was shaking ever so slightly. “I head about what happened.”  
“How?” Marius innocently asked.  
“I saw Montparnasse’s texts.”  
Usually Marius would defend every moral code, no matter how big or small, including reading someone else’s messages. However Marius couldn’t help but exhale loudly in relief of a help.  
“Everyone applauds you, Marius,” Éponine spoke as she placed her hand on his shoulder. “They adore your support by staying in with her.”  
Marius nodded with a clot in his throat.  
Somehow Éponine was able to notice this. “What’s wrong?”  
Marius shook his head quite vigorously as if held the truth which could shatter reality. He couldn’t tell Éponine.

Slowly Cosette creeped in, her hand on the wall so she could balance. Just by walking, she was sweating.  
Éponine’s heart simply broke. At least she was walking. The last text she read from Montparnasse’s phone was that Cosette found it impossible to stand. The therapy was working.  
“Darling, Éponine’s here.” Marius called out as he reached for her hand so Cosette could tral to the centre of the room.  
“My love,” Cosette breathed heavily, “Thank you for this blessing. It’s nice to see my friends once again.”  
Éponine reached out as if she was seeing a phantom, and wanted to check if she was real.  
Marius connected their hands and Cosette limped towards her for a hug.

Seeing how close the two were, Marius wished for her to stay longer. “I was cooking, and now that I think about it, I cooked too much.”  
Éponine looked at him and softly smiled. “I can stay and eat with you.”  
“You’re so thin.” Cosette whispered, so quiet Marius wasn’t able to hear her.

Éponine didn’t know there was a problem at first. Cosette was merely playing with her food rather than putting it in her mouth. She thought that might have been because it was too hot. She also had heard one symptom of depression was loss of appetite, so maybe Cosette was going to eat very slowly.  
However she noticed Marius repeatedly eye his wife, worried. He nervously ate.

By the time Éponine finished Cosette took two bites. As long as she wasn’t starving, Éponine didn’t find this too alarming.

Then Cosette reached for Marius, as a child would when wanting their mother to lift them from their chair.  
Éponine’s eyes widened. She had finished eating. Yet her plate was full. Éponine shuddered as she was reminded of her past. To snap out of the painful flashbacks she stood up.  
She followed Marius before Cosette collapsed. She tried to crawl on the floor in another direction. Somehow Marius was able to detect her thoughts and carried her to the bathroom just in time for her to vomit. For the most of the choking nothing came out of her mouth. Instead she paused breathing in random intervals and made noises which were similar to being choked.  
Éponine closed her eyes tightly shut. It was too much. 

She excused herself.

The next day she returned with flowers as an apology for having run away the day before.  
Marius smiled and accepted them but Éponine knew there was something else behind his eyes.

This time Éponine concocted a plan to help Cosette. It was something she imagined someone else doing for her when she was also going through the similar pain.  
Éponine kindly asked Marius to leave the two alone. Just for tonight. Marius agreed as he wanted Cosette to get better no matter what, and if Éponine would be her helper, let it be so.

Instead of Marius, Éponine was the one who cooked. She prepared simple food since she wasn’t a great chef.  
The two sat on the opposite ends of the table.  
Cosette merely stared at Éponine who didn’t blink.  
“I’m glad you’re here.” Cosette said.  
“Me too.”  
“I’m sorry about before. It was…” She shook her head, unable to think of the correct word. It was if there were barriers in her thought process.  
Éponine mimicked her motions. “No, I understand. I want you to eat.”  
Cosette stared at her, surprised. “Is that why you’re here?”  
“I want to help you. But I can’t help with everything. But I think I can help you with this.”  
Cosette tried to smile.

For the next thirty minutes they talked. Cosette asked about Montparnasse and their progression in their relationship in which Éponine replied generically. In turn, Éponine asked Cosette about her development in her marriage with Marius.  
Éponine talked and talked about Les Amis and what were their next plans and whatnot. At rare moments she was able to see felicity in her eyes, enjoying her stories.

But eventually Cosette commented, “You haven’t eaten your food yet.”  
“Yes…” Éponine said as she looked down at her food. It was probably cold and frankly unappealing. “But you haven’t eaten either, my friend.”  
Cosette was taken back. She understood the rules. She took a bite, Éponine took a bite. “This isn’t healthy.” Cosette protested. This was manipulation.  
“You’re not healthy.” Éponine fired back, deflecting her statement. Then she shrugged. “No pressure.”  
Cosette shakily picked up her fork. She put food in her mouth. She didn’t chew, she didn’t swallow. Trying to keep the food in her mouth without pushing it out of her mouth was hard. It had a similar feeling to juggling. It felt as if it was all about balance. She had to keep the food in her mouth long enough for Éponine to mimic her actions and eat as well.  
Éponine’s eyes trailed downwards with a frown.  
Cosette tried to swallow the food. She couldn’t. But she was also aware of how thin Éponine was. Painfully, she grabbed her glass of water and tried to swallow her food. 

It tasted horrible. It felt like she was chugging cloth down her throat, suffocating herself. It should’ve been so simple… Yet it hurt so much she began to cry. She didn’t mean to. She didn’t want to chase her dear friend away again. Nevertheless tears streamed down as she continued to force the food to remain in her stomach.

Afterwards Éponine promised Marius she would take care of Cosette in the mornings and the afternoons so Marius could return to work. Feeling guilty yet relieved, the conflicting Marius embraced her in gratefulness.

Even though there were several bites per meal, it was still progress. It was painful to watch but there was no choice. Despite therapy Cosette kept refusing to eat much. Éponine was desperate for Cosette to go back to her healthy ways.

However one day, two weeks later, Cosette became unresponsive. Almost none of Éponine’s actions stirred a reaction in Cosette. The only time she moved, it was with her eyes and her head as she turned and whispered “No, go.” after Marius suggested he would stay at home for her.

With her husband gone, Éponine decided on another plan.

After she finished cooking their meal, she carried Cosette to the table. Rather than sitting on the opposite side straight away as usual, she stripped herself and kept only her underwear on.  
Cosette’s eyes widened. Not because of her action, but of what she saw.

Éponine was bony, not to the point of her bones protruding, but they were visible slightly. Her ribs were the most vulnerable to air. Her stomach caved into her body. And her skin looked fragile. In fact her entire body looked like a balanced pile of bones, ready to crumble by a slight blow of a wind.  
In response to her stares, Éponine only spoke, “It used to be worse- I’m better now.”

Finally Éponine sat on the opposite side. To break the tension she smiled and asked, “How are you?”  
As if breaking away from a trance, Cosette shook her head. “Alright.” She said, her eyes teary.

It took awhile for Cosette to take a first bite, but she was able to move, so Éponine was content.

Unfortunately, in fear, Cosette ate too much and vomited on the table until she was able to direct it to the floor. Once she did, she kept staring at the vomit. As Éponine tried to clean it up, she saw Cosette chew down her food. Éponine warned her, but Cosette wouldn’t stop.  
Éponine had to physically hold back her arm to stop her. Cosette was going to be sick again at this point.  
Cosette choked and cried but pushed away Éponine when she wanted to calm her. But Éponine knew better. Cosette was depressed. She needed to be beside her so she could feel safe and loved.  
Unexpectedly in the midst of her sobbing, Cosette yelled, “Eat!”

Then Éponine saw this scene in a different light. She was causing pain. Like how she agonised herself in the past. In order to avoid the repetition and undo her mistakes she promptly ate. Just as much as Cosette ate.

Looking across the table and seeing Cosette made her imitate her emotions. Suddenly she felt her heart burn and her throat tie up. Along with her, Éponine wept.

Alongside therapy and Éponine, Cosette was making small progress. Every step she took felt like a whole journey.

Then one day she regressed.


	4. The sun will rise

On the phone, Marius begged Éponine, “She’s not responding at all. She isn’t even acknowledging my presence, what should I do?”  
Éponine dropped her phone and ran to their aid.

Cosette was worse than ever. 

Éponine arrived at their home having driven erratically in her pajamas. 

They rushed to a spare room. “Why is she in here? Don’t you sleep in the same room?” Éponine asked, with a slight shade of anger.  
Marius stuttured, “We- We do! But she came- she came here for s-some reason.”  
Éponine tried to make her move her pupils. There was no recognition.

For now Éponine knew Cosette had eaten and she didn’t vomit it out, so there was no worry about her starving.  
If Cosette felt tired she would close her eyes but she hadn’t one so yet.  
She was limp but she wasn’t dying. 

“I think all we can do is stay by her side,” Éponine said as she saw a tear trickle down Cosette’s face. She gently wiped it away.  
Marius obeyed Éponine and sat next to Cosette and on the other side Éponine sat.

Hours ticked by and Marius had fallen asleep. Éponine yawned but when checking Cosette she realised she wasn’t tired at all.  
“Wow, you’re still awake,” She said.  
She watched Cosette give no response.  
Éponine had to stay awake. So she began speaking to keep her mind still working, “It was three years ago. I finally escaped my family,” she exhaled, still relieved, “And I wanted to gain control of my life. I changed- I deconstructed and built a whole new me. Too quickly…” She sighed. “I began to starve myself, believing myself to be completely different from my toxic family.”  
Éponine checked Cosette. She was still awake, so she continued, “Then I met Montparnasse. He was kind and gentle, even when he thinks he’s broken himself,” She simpered, “He told me he loved every bit of me. He convinced me to… fatten up. I would wake up every morning and weigh myself. But my mind was not in the best place. He told me he alone could help me. I believed him. It was a good choice because I’m better now. He saved me. It’s cute, Cosette, we both have a cute love story-”  
“Break,” Coseette managed to push out, already tired from speaking. She squeezed her eyes shut as if to regenerate. “Bad.” She said.  
Éponine shuffled away from her. “What are you on about?”  
Cosette opened her eyes and stared at her with her teary eyes. She wanted to say so much but she was only able to form the word, “Toxic.”  
Éponine understood what she meant and was offended. She twisted her facial expression but didn’t want her mentality to worsen so masked it with a smile. She gently shook Marius.

Surprised, Marius awoke to Cosette crying. He comforted her. Then he realised no one was beside her. He scanned the room. Éponine was gone. She had left.


	5. Little by little

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Domestic violence mentioned

It had been eight weeks since the two last saw their friend. Eight weeks of getting better without her friend… Cosette had worried that if they were to see Éponine once more and saw how she was doing better, she would misinterpret the situation. However Marius was very consistent on this not being the case.

It was in natural human instinct to worry, and so Marius texted Montparnasse repeatedly, trying to pin down on where Éponine might have gone. Not even the rest of Les Amis knew where she went.  
Montparnasse only read his messages and never replied until he blocked him three weeks in.

Thinking this was a personal conflict, and not wanting to alert Cosette, Marius lied and said Éponine was just at home. This made Cosette become weary and mutter something to herself. Marius didn’t know she was murmuring about Montparnasse. All she knew was that he was manipulative but Cosette was so energy-deprived she couldn’t supply evidence Éponine to snap her out of the relationship. Now that she was gone Cosette truly wished for her safety; that she wasn’t falling down the abyss.

Then the doorbell rang, and this time both hurriedly rushed to the door and opened it together. It was Éponine! With… a deep scar on her face. Their expressions dropped from excitement but Éponine balanced the tension by breaking it as she beamed. She wasn’t truly happy, no, far from it. But she was so used to pretending to be quite gleeful, she was able to pass it off as if she was never injured in the first place.  
Marius had to pinch himself to check if he was hallucinating or dreaming this event as it felt illogical.

As they sat and ate, Éponine loved every second of Cosette eating. She in turn urged her to eat as well. “How are you,” Cosette asked, really meaning every word of it.  
“I’m fine.” Éponine smiled, actually meaning her words as well.

Watching the two dance around the subject Marius bursted, “Your scar!”

“Well, yes,” Éponine touched her face as if to remind herself of it, “Montparnasse… wasn’t so pleased with me wanting to leave.”  
Then Éponine explained everything. When Cosette highlighted the toxicity of their relationship, Éponine bolted away in tears. Since she couldn’t drive like that she waited to calm herself. Then her mind cleared the smoke and she could think logically.  
There were many hints she ignored with her partner because she wanted to desperately have a better life than she had with her family. For once she made a decision, and she fought for that decision to be under a positive light. But it wasn’t.  
She could’ve been open about her disorder, she could’ve gotten therapy, she could’ve told her friends about her abused life, but she kept all of it bottled up. Once she did unleash her anger Montparnasse was quick to snap back, resulting in a scar.  
Just in case she was going to be hunted down, she made a deal with him that they would never meet again and she wouldn’t sue him.  
Admittedly telling an obvious lie was suspicious to the hospital, but at least the worst was over.

Éponine thanked Cosette and continued eating with the two.  
Half way she jokingly stated, “Who’d love a person with a face like this?”  
Marius stopped chewing, not having prepared for this statement.  
Neither did Cosette but she was quick to fire back nevertheless, “I would. Marius would. Everyone would. Your personality shines above everyone else’s. Looks aren’t everything, my dear Éponine. There’s a right man out there for you.”  
Cosette smiled. It wasn’t out of politeness, it was of sincerity and love, thus proving her point. Éponine couldn’t even remember the pain she went through to be punished with the scar at that moment. All that mattered was that she had a family. Certainly Éponine smiled back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's so therapeutic to finish a story


End file.
